There was a breaking news story out of Houston on Thursday by reporter Jose de Jesus Ortiz regarding the Astros and their owner Jim Crane’s efforts to find a new spring training home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

As rumoured late this spring, Crane also indicates that the Blue Jays are a big part of the plans. Crane told Ortiz the plans have already had state approval for funding and for a site. The Astros’ lease in Kissimmee expires in 2016.

“It’s nothing against Kissimmee, but if you ask our guys our facility is 28th out of the ones that are out there,” Crane told Ortiz. “It’s outdated. I think we’ll get all the final approvals no later than the fall. You can’t press city hall. If it was a business deal we’d be done with it by now, but they work at their pace.”

The Jays and Astros would share the facility much as the Marlins and the Cardinals share a beautiful spring camp in Jupiter, Fla.

The advantage for the Jays would be that there are more teams within easy travel distance than on the other coast where they are currently in Dunedin and have been since the franchise came into existence in 1977.

Many teams that were near Dunedin in the 1970s have moved to Arizona or further south towards the Fort Myers area. One also assumes that the spring training upgrade would be for the minor-league facility and the major-league training to be in the same locale.

In addition to the Astros, the Cards and the Marlins, the Jays would also have easy access to the Mets and the Nationals.

I spent 13 springs going to training camp in West Palm Beach with the Expos and living in Palm Beach Gardens.

It would be more expensive for fans than the west coast in the Dunedin area and it is more crowded, with bigger traffic issues, but it would be a welcomed move whenever and if ever it occurs. The plans, the blueprints have not even been drawn up, so it is still a long way off. Thanks to reader Todd Laidman from Hamilton for spotting the piece in the Chronicle.

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